The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1887-02-18
Raising Strawberries.
HOW TO PREPARE THE GROUND FOR THE
.,,..s..., @ CULTIVATION or THIS LUs-
,,,.~r,,-, CIoUs FRUIT

My first advice in regard to straw.
berries is to set them out Immediately
almost anywhere except upon land 80
recently in grass that the sod is still
undecayed. This course is better than
not to have the fruit at all, OF TO wait
for it. A year without strawberries is
a lost year in one serious respect.
While there is a wide difference be-
tween what plants can do under un-
favorable conditions and wpat they can
be made to do when their needs are
fully met, they will probably in any
event yield fair supply of delicious
fruit Secure this as soon as possible.
At the same time remember that a
plant of good variety is a genius
capable of wonderful development
In ordinary circumstances it is like the
''mute, inglorious poets whose en-
forced limitations were lamented by
the poet Gray; but when its innate
powers and gifts are fully nourished it
expands into surprising proportions,
sends up hundreds of flowers, which
are followed by ruby gems of fruit
whose exquisite flavor is only surpass-
ed by its beauty. No such conoentrat-
ed ambrosia ever graced the feasts of
the Olympian gods, for they were re-
stricted to the humble Fragaria yesca,
or Alpine species. In discovering the
New World, Columbus also discovered
the true strawberry, and died without
knowledge of this result Of his achieve
ment.
l can imagine the expression on the
faces of those who buy the "sour,
crude, half-ripe Wilson's" against which
the poet Byrant inveighed SO Justly.
The market is flooded with this fruit,
because it bears transportation about
as we'll as would marbles. Yes, they
are strawberries choke-pears and
Seckels belong to the same species.
There Is truth enough in my exagger-
alton to warrant the assertion that If
we would enjoy the possible straw
berry we must raise it ourselves, and
pick it when fully matured-ready for
table and not for market. Then any
mans garden can furnish something
better than was found in Eden.
Having started strawberry patch
without loss of time wherever it was
handiest, we can now give our atten-
tion to The formation Of an ideal bed.
In this instance we mnst shun the
shade of trees above and their roots
beneath. The land should be open to
the sky, and the sun free to practice
his alchemy on the fruit the greater
part of the day. The most favorable
soil is sandy loan, verging toward
clay, and it should have been under
cultivation suffi ,iently long to destroy
all roots of grass and perennial weeds
Put on the fertilizer with free hand
If it is barn-yard manure, the rate of
sixty tons to the acre Is not in excess.
A strawberry plant has a large appe-
tite and excellent digestion. 1t pre-
fers decidedly manure from the COW
stable, but that from The horse stable
answers very well, but it is not advis-
able to incorporate it with the soil in
its raw, unfermented state, and then
to plant Immediately. The ground
can scarcely be too rich for strawber-
ries, but it easily can be over heated
and stimulated. In fertilizing ever
keep in mind the two great requisites,
moisture and GOODNESS. Manure from
the horse stable, therefore, is about
double III value as well as bulk if com
posted with leaves, muck or sods and
allowed to decay before being used.
Next to enriching the soil the most
important step is to deepen it. If a
plow is used, sink it to the beam, run
it twice in furrow If a lifting sub
soil-plow can follow, all the better
Strawberry roots have been traced two
feet below the surface
If the location of the plot does not
admit the use of plow let the garden
er begin at one side and trench the
area to at least the depth of eighteen
inches, taking pains to mix the sur
face, subsoil and fertil ger evenly and
thoroughly. A small plot thus treated
will yield as much as one three or four
times as large. One of the chief ad-
vantages of thus deepening the soil Is
that the plants are insured against
their worst enemy-the drought. How
often have seen beds in early Juns
languishing for moisture, the fruit
trusses lying on the ground, fainting
under the burden, land the berries ripen-
ing prematurely into little more than
diminutive collections of seeds! When
ground has been deepened, as | have
said, the drought must be almost un-
paralleled to resist the development of
the fruit. Even in the most favorable
seasons hard, shallow soils give but
a brief period of strawberries the